continues to battle with congress in terms of fiscal issues and the debt ceiling. just a matter of minutes ago actually dan pfeiffer, one of the top aides to the t president put out a note that politico breaux this morning where they said that house republicans were considering, among other things, default or possibly a government shutdown. some of the dramatic steps that the republicans of the house are considering. pfeiffer referred to that specifically today saying just another reason -- just one more way that house republicans could make themselves even less popular than they already are right now. we have a pretty good sense of what we're going to hear the president say when it comes to the debt ceiling and fiscal issues. jay carney sort of telegraphed these statements during the briefings last week, the last one was on wednesday where he said, and i pulled up the notes to get it right. he said there are only two options to deal with the debt limit. congress can pay its bill or fail to act and put the nation into default. the line in the sand was clearly drawn during those news confer

raidsing the nation's debt ceiling, but you know the reporters are going to ask questions on those two issues that you just raised. let's just quickly talk about both of these. you're here in washington to talk about the -- you may well remember president obama trieded it, he had ted kennedy on his side, he had mccain on his side, it didn't go anywhere. what do you think if the president tries to push for comprehensive immigration reform including a pathway to citizenship for so many of the ten, 10 million illegal immigrations from -- >> they lost about 71% of the latino vote, 74% of the asian vote. the vast majority of people in the country in poll after poll after poll including your own say that people want comprehensive immigration reform that provides a pathway for citizenship. i saw john mccain yesterday on face the nation and i can tell you that we were in the room together, he's working with some eight senators, he believes that we're on the path to get comprehensive immigration reform and i think that both parties would be -- would do well by the american people if they did that and i thi

democrats and republicans on his powerful committee as to who should testify. the debt ceiling issue should become a partisan issue. i appeal to the republicans to realize they should not place us in that kind of jeopardy. there will be hearing. we will work on witnesses today. i hope we will be resolving who the witnesses will be. i think there'll be concentration as to who they pick and our choice, one witness out of four. host: might it be secretary geithner? guest: no. host: tony. hi, tony. caller: good morning. guest: where is olive branch? i have been across the bridge there. caller: the talk about congress and everybody is looking at discretionary spending. we're finding the black rhino but we cannot take care of grandma. otherbuilding mosques foreign countries. people have to worry about being on the street and being homeless. we send money to countries to improve their water systems. thinking about the pipes in china. money out of this country. he talked about people spending money and avoiding taxes. host: we will get a response. guest: i do not know the last figure. we do have fo

-- consider some sort of executive action on this debt ceiling issue. i know you've said you're not negotiating on it. your administration has ruled out the various ideas that have been out there -- the 14th amendment. but just this morning, one of the house democratic leaders, jim clyburn, asked you to use the 14th amendment and even said, sometimes that's what it takes. he brought up the emancipation proclamation as saying it took executive action when congress wouldn't act, and he compared the debt ceiling to that. so are you considering a plan b, and if not, why not? >> well, chuck, the issue here is whether or not america pays its bills. we are not a deadbeat nation. and so there's a very simple solution to this: congress authorizes us to pay our bills. now, if the house and the senate want to give me the authority so that they don't have to take these tough votes, if they want to put the responsibility on me to raise the debt ceiling, i'm happy to take it. mitch mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate, had a proposal like that last year, and i'm happy to accept it. but

, a deal that looks at a bunch of these issues. trying to avert the debt ceiling debate by invoking the 14th amendment, cementing dosh minting the trillion dollar coin -- do you think those are viable options, would you be opposed to them being used? , i don't believe anyone should hold the -- >> i don't believe anyone should hold the american people ransom for what they could not get done in the ballot box. paying for our debts in the past -- for things we did, we borrowed money. republicans and democrats alike past these budgets -- passed these budgets. in our publicans are saying they don't want to pay for the things they voted for -- now republicans are saying they don't want to pay for things they voted for in past budget. to allow them to put conditions on the balance deal by saying we are going to ask for a ransom, devastating cuts to social security and medicare, in order to cover costs for things like the bush tax cuts, unpaid wars in iraq and afghanistan -- i agree with the president. the american people should not be held hostage with this game of using the debt ceiling a

bunch of these issues. one thing that's being discussed is trying to avert the debt ceiling debate by either invoking the 14th amendment, minting a $1 trillion coin. what do you think about those? do you think those are viable options and would you be opposed to them? >> i don't believe that anyone should hold the american people hostage for a ranssome that they couldn't get in the ballot box. and that's what we see being done with the whole issue of the debt ceiling. for things we did we borrowed money. in fact, republicans and democrats alike passed these budgets and now republicans are saying they don't want to pay for the thing that is they voted for in these previous budgets. that to me is not the way you run government once again and to allow someone to play political mischief, to put preconditions on a balanced deal by saying we're going to ask for a ransom devastating cuts to social security and medicare, in order to cover costs to things like the bush tax cuts, unpaid for wars in iraq and afghanistan don't make sense. so i agree with the president. the american people shou

compromise. i'm willing to give them four to six months extra time. >> settling a debt ceiling issue is in the interest of the president and of our country. you have today fitch came out and threatened to decrease the credit rating and they are doing it in a way that areckless because you have outside observers looking at us and i want to highlight a point you made earlier which is the fact that all spending bills are in the constitution. we are looking at a credit card bill that this country has to pay that was in cured by congress by authorizing this spending. >> but peter, you are going to get a budget out of that house. they are late, but i believe they will. it is the senate that hasn't delivered a budge it in years. this is not just about the here and now. this is forward spending. forward spending needs a road map and the taxpayers have a right to know. >> yeah, i think it is pretty rich to call republican ares reckless spepder e spenders her. when president obama was asked to vote on a hike in 2006, the fact that we are raising the debt limit is a result of reckless fiscal polic

, the president had to try to explain this issue of the debt ceiling and what i think you will see were digestible terms. take a listen. >> this is not a complicated concept. you don't go out to dinner and then, you know, eat all you want and then leave without paying the check. if congress wants to have a debate about maybe we shouldn't go out to dinner next time, maybe we should go to a more modest restaurant, that's fine. >> reporter: he tried to make it very clear that raising the debt ceiling does not automatically authorize future spending. he said he's more than glad to have a balanced approach going to deficit reduction talks in the future but he said that can only happen after the debt ceiling is pushed up by congress. obviously, referring to those republicans in congress that he believes have been obstructing that and what's interesting is one of the first tweets from the press secretary jay carney's twitter account after the news conference is following, basically placing blame on republicans, if people start to stop receiving checks, if we default on the debt ceiling or

issues. without going into all the different ramifications, i want to say one word about the debt ceiling, which is not everybody understands what the debt ceiling is about. the debt ceiling -- raising the debt ceiling, which congress has to do periodically, gives the government the ability to pay its existing bills. it does not create new deficits. it does not create new spending. so not raising the debt ceiling is sort of like a family which is trying to improve its credit ratings and i know how we can save money, we will not pay our credit card bills. not the most effective way to improve your credit rating. it was a very slow solution to the debt ceiling in august of 2011 that got the u.s. downgraded last time. so it's very important. all these issues are important, but it's very, very important that congress take necessary action to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a situation where our government does not pay its bills. >> a number of people have expressed concern about how much of the challenges actually were addressed in the deal. it went part of the way, as you mentioned. but it l

the debt ceiling issue should become such a partisan issue. and i just appeal to the republicans who are having this retreat to realize that they should not place us in that kind of jeopardy. so there will be a hearing. we're going to work on witnesses today, settle them, and i hope the chairman and i will be resolving who will be the witnesses. they get the choice, the majority, but in this case i think there will be consternation as to who they pick and our choice. host: ok, all right. guest: we'll have one witness out of four. host: could it be secretary geithner? guest: no. host: do you think they'll call on him, the republicans? guest: no. host: tony, olive branch, mississippi. republican. hi, tony. caller: good morning. how you doing, senator? guest: where is olive branch? caller: it's down across the street from memphis, tennessee -- mississippi. guest: i've been across the bridge there. host: what's your question or comment? caller: my deal is when you talk about congress and everybody is looking at discretionary spending, i beg it differ. we're funding the rhino but we can't

cliff, the debt ceiling issue that the republicans do seem to be going soft on, i do think one of the reasons why they went so soft is because major traditionally republican lobbying groups were advocating like the chamber of commerce came out strongly saying this is crazy. i'm wondering if there are other traditionally republican groups like law enforcement organizations, you know, the police associations who might tend to be conservatives. if they came out strong and spoke, if the faith community came out strong, those could be groups that would end up moving and you know, shaking that a little bit. just quickly let's take a listen to who senator ted cruz was talking about -- what he thinks is going to happen as a result of the dunn gun debate. take a listen. >> i think the consequence i think he's going to pay a serious political price. and i think the price that's going to be paid on this is going to manifest in senate races in 2014. >> jennifer: your take on that. he's flipping our argument on its head. he think it will benefit the republicans rather than cause them to lose s

happening. there's the debt ceiling, whether or not to raise the debt ceiling. some are talking about shutting the government down when the continuing resolution that authorizes spending for this government runs out, that he would negotiate then on this whole issue of spending cuts and new revenue. and if you cannot get a deal, then you let the government shutdown. some republicans are laying the groundwork for that. then you have the sequestration that was delayed under the fiscal cliff deal. so there are more than one battle happening. where do you think the negotiations should take place? should be the debt ceiling or the continuing resolution to fund the government or sequestration? caller: the continuing revolution to keep the government going -- resolution. there are many departments we don't need. i was showing my grandchildr the debt clock, telling him how much money he would know when he becomes a taxpayer. he said he does not want to become a taxpayer. this is taxation without representation. they have to get this under control. they need a dyiet. host: jason is a democratic caller in brooklyn, new york. caller: i think the debt is negotiable. it has been high before. host: what did you say? caller: it ought to be negotiable. i think obam

for the reaching of common ground on these major issues, like the debt ceiling, the budget, gun-control, immigration, tax reform, those kinds of things. i think it is true that we have a divided government now. it has been a difficult four years, but president obama is a natural conciliate her -- conciliation person, and he will make that a big theme of his second term. i think you will hear some of that tomorrow. >> this is from this morning's "washington post." you can draw an analogy to two former president, franklin roosevelt and dwight eisenhower, finding parallels to what fdr delivered in his second address in 1937, and what eisenhower faced in 1957. >> the roosevelt second inaugural address is interesting to read because it really is of a peace with first inaugural. the president said, i came in with a huge crisis, i have been leading this country through, we're on the right path. we are going to keep going. he has a phrase in there -- have we found our happy valley? it was a very fine speech. i would have to go back and look at it again. i do not read it as being an aggr

, but growth in the economy. and you know? this debt ceiling issue is just crazy. i stand -- >> was it crazy seven years ago when your democratic colleague voted against raising it? was it crazy then? >> well, except it wasn't real and this is real. the last final -- >> real is in the eye of the beholder. >> no, no. >> i guess it's -- >> it was more -- you know that those past votes were more symbolic, but when we really had a crisis over the debt ceiling in 2011, there were real consequences. real lasting consequences, and we didn't even -- we did raise the debt ceiling in the end, but we saw the deficit grow, neil, when there was this threat to -- and so as i said, the coke brothers, the u.s. chamber of commerce, against the debt crisis. >> i always appreciate your coming on. you give as well as you take and i appreciate that. congresswoman jan. >> a warning about the healthcare law. unite health care says its costs are running up. all rise. the judge says your premiums are about to do the exact same thing. so, i guess we shouldn't be surprised. premiums will likely go up. >> of cour

bring a degree point becausthe first time we had the debt ceiling issue, which is the one now looming in congress, we saved 2,000 points of the stock market. it did not last, thankfully, but it was scary. it may allow the people uneasy. we will -- will leave be in for the same type of problem if we get right up to that deadline and no agreement? >> yes. yes. and that is why we are all annoyed and hopeful that congress will learn alesson and not do a test again because all they're doing getting in our way causing a lot of banks and warrior necessarily for the american public and investors or a wide. gerri: a broader uestion. you're a smart guy and you watch all this stuff. one of the things the we're waiting for, listening tour, s&p, moody's, downgrade are dead again, what will happen? we will be the ramifications? how will that hit individual investor portfolios? >> there is a risk that traditionally when they're is a downgrade of a bond rating the value of the bond goes down as well, which means if you own u.s. government securities you're going to suffer a loss of value. that did no

that's part of the good and bad. it enables constant debt ceiling issues into the future. >> yeah. it's going to coincide with the debate in washington. thanks for helping us tap us. one last note about e-bay. overall pretty good although there was some expectations that the numbers could have been even better given the overall growth trends in mobile and what pay pal did. the ceo will be on cnbc later on this afternoon. as we hit noon let's get back to headquarters. scott wapner and the "fast money" halftime. >>> carl, thanks so much. welcome to the halftime show. four hours to go until the close. here's where we stan right now on the street. the dow is just about at the highs of the day, up six out of the past seven days. disregard what we're shearing. we're talking about the market because it's higher today and here's what we're following on halftime. banking on the financials. more earnings results are in the books. last year's darlings running out of gas or taking a breath? inside intel the stock is up 8% over the past month. what's the play right now ahead of today's numbers

president faces tough issues in his second term, dealing with gun control, figuring out the whole debt ceiling issue, and also immigration reform. something that the president said would be a top priority. so a lot of different events for the president today. capping it off will be two balls. on official inaugural ball and the commander in chief ball taking place tonight. key folks will be taking part in ceremonies today. in particular, some hispanics playing an important role. chief justice sonja sotomayor, takie ing place on the swearing of the president. the inaugural committee has chosen a cuban american to read an original poem. cuban american civil jeer and author, richard blanco. so hispanics playing an important role on an important day in washington. john. >> a long day of firsts and a long day of celebration. dan lothian at the white house this morning. the crowd expected to turn up at the national mall, not expected to be as large as four years ago, when 1.8 million people crowded into the city. they are still expecting some 800,000 people today. nothing to thumb your nose a

deficit, and a lot of back- and-forth over these three issues. i want to say one word about the debt ceiling. not many people understand what the debt ceiling is about. raising the debt ceiling, which congress has to do periodically, gives the government the ability to pay its existing bills. it doesn't create new deficits. it does not create new spending. so not raising the debt ceiling is sort of like a family, which is trying to improve its credit rating, shane, i know how we can improve our credit rating. we will pay your credit card bills. that is not the best way to improve your credit rating. all of these issues are important, but it is very important that congress take necessary action to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a situation where our government does not pay its bills. >> and number of people have expressed concern about how much of the chill news were addressed in the deal. it went part way, but it leaves a number of issues still on the table and negotiations are looming. would you characterize that as an additional cliff that is facing us? or is it not as concerned a

in the context of the debt ceiling. >> do you believe that the fed should actively prevent future ?sset bubbles wha >> they're difficult to anticipate. we can do some things. we can try to strengthen our financial system. because the commission earlier, by increasing the amount of capital and liquidity, improving supervision of those banks, making sure every important financial institution is supervised by somebody. you make the system stronger, then a bubble or some other financial problem emerges, the system will be better able to be more resilient. you can try to identify bubbles. the rest and a lot of research on that. -- there's been a lot of research on that. the financial stability oversight council is made up of 10 regulators and chaired by the secretary of the treasury. one of whose responsibilities is to monitor the financial system, as the fed does, and tried to identify problems -- tried to identify problems that emerged. you're not going to identify every possible problem for sure. you can do your best and try to make sure the system is strong. when you identify probl

the democrats line. whether the president will bypass congress to raise the debt ceiling. caller: i think this raises a large issue. i am not sure the president does have the constitutional authority to do that. our government is dysfunctional right now. i heard you say that the senate would not be coming back in session until after and not duration? that is why i hate washington d.c. so much. they ought to be meeting together. democrats and republicans, trying to get this thing resolved, instead of wherever they happen to be right now. host: stay on the phone for a minute, let me read this to you. this is from the new york post. republican pirates need to take back the people's booty. -- caller: i would agree. i had a second point. the senator from nebraska acted as though military spending is sank rose thanks -- sacred. money going to run factors and various defense companies, why can we not investigate what is happening to that money, to? host: let me share with you the front page of the sunday " washington examiner." the headline is, hidden taxes will take a painful bite. inside is the story from that conley who

representative of california. issues include the debt ceiling debate, immigration, and gun laws. "newsmakers" on sunday at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. eastern on c- span. >> student cam video entries to the president are now due. get them in by friday. the grand prize is $5,000. total prices is the $2000. >> now an american bar association about the balance between combating terrorism and national security law. assistant attorney general lisa mine october leads the national security -- lisa monaco leads the national security. this is 25 minutes. [applause] >> thank you very much for that generous introduction. i am going to have to focus on the chinese proverb. it is not one that i had seen before. good morning, everyone, and thank you for coming out this morning. i want to thank the standing committee and the work she always does to put these events on and, of course, jim. and all of you and coming out this morning. i'm going to spend a few moments this morning talking about the role of the national security lawyer and the unique position the division occupies in that regard. and also a

the debt ceiling, immigration, and gun laws. newsmaker is this sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. now, a discussion about the balance between combating terrorism and national security. lisa monaco, who leads the national security division, talked about prosecuting terrorism cases and coordinating the work of law enforcement and the intelligence community. this is 25 minutes. [applause] >> thank you very much for that generous introduction. i am going to have to focus on the chinese proverb. it is not one that i had seen before. good morning, everyone, and thank you for coming out this morning. i want to thank the standing committee and the work she always does to put these events on and, of course, jim. and all of you and coming out this morning. i'm going to spend a few moments this morning talking about the role of the national security lawyer and the unique position the division occupies in that regard. and also about some of the emerging issues we are facing and we are focusing on in the national security division. we will have a few minutes for some questi

the debt ceiling, the budget, gun control, immigration, tax reform, those kinds of things. so i think that it is true that we are -- we have a divided government now. it has been a difficult four years but i think president obama is a natural. i think he will make that a big theme of his second term. i think you will hear some of that tomorrow. host: this is from this morning's "the washington post" who writes a new term, a new obama. he points out and draws an aanalogy to f.d.r. and eisenhower. guest: the roosevelt second inaugural address is interesting to read. it really is at peace with the first inaugural address. this is a president saying i came in with a huge crisis, we're on the right path, we're going to keep going. he has a phrase in there, have we found our happy val valley? i -- valley. i don't read it as being an aggressive speech. he was speaking to the whole country but he wasn't in campaign mode. roosevelt was very good in that way and eisenhower never sounded like he was in campaign mode. guest: i think that speech is recognized as one of the better second inaugurals

on the other side. democrats do not like voting for the debt ceiling yet you never saw a situation in which democrats suggested that we would go ahead and all that we did not get our way 100%. that's not how it works. >> on the issue of guns, given how typical it will be, impossible, to get any gun- control measure passed through this congress, what are you willing or able to do using the powers of your presidency to act without congress? i would also like to know what you make of these long lines we're seeing at gun shows and gun stores all around the country? even in connecticut, applications are up since the shooting. >> my understanding of the vice- president will provide a range of steps we could take to reduce gun violence. some of them will require legislation. some of them i can accomplish through executive action. i will be reviewing those today. i'm confident there are some steps we can take that do not require legislation within my ability as president. we have the possibility to reduce gun violence and then i'm going to take it. for example, how we gather data on guns that ball into the hands of criminals and how to track it more effectively. there may be some steps we can take administratively. as far as

ceiling is a big deal, but i think the run up to the debt ceiling, this is what the beige book is telling us, bill, the run-up is a big deal and the whole question. i'm not saying it's -- it's very important to solve these issues, but i think what the market wants, what investors want and probably what the american public wants is an understanding of the process of how we make a decision. i really think at this time our democracy and how we make decisions is entirely up in the air and unclear to most people. if business understood how we got to go, then i think there would be more clarity out there. you could operate a business. >> you know, steve, i have a question to you. i know it's basically fed policy under ben, under chairman greenspan not to wade into the actual mode to solve these issues, but isn't it a bit disingenuous of the fed to talk about all this uncertainty without making any comments as to hey, you guys, you need to deal with the debt. you need to deal -- >> but, they are. bernanke makes that comment a lot. he has said. >> says it all the time. >> more a solution. like telling them how to go about it. >> that's the problem the fed is in, at least bernanke has put himself in this position. he does n

proclamation, and he compared the debt ceiling to that. are you considering this? and if not, why not? >> well, chuck, the issue here is whether or not america pays its bills. we are not a dead beat nation. so there is a very simple solution to all of this. congress authorizes us to pay our bills. now, if the house and senate want to give me authority so they do not have to take these tough votes, if they want to put the responsibility on me to raise the debt ceiling, i am happy to take it. mitch mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate, had a proposal like that last year, and i am happy to accept that, but they want to keep the responsibility, they need to go ahead and get it done. there are no magic tricks. there are no loopholes. there are no easy out. this is a matter of congress authorizes spending. they tell me you need to fund the defense department as such and such level. you need to send out social security checks. you need to make sure you are paying to care for the veterans. they lay all of this out for me. because they have the spending power. i am required by law to go ahead and pay the bills. sep

. warren. >> even though we been through all this, i still play domiciled debt ceiling issue and i'm wondering if you can tell me what would have been if congress did not raise the debt ceiling and that would make it such a dangerous option for going forward. >> i think our credit rating would go down. and how would we pay the bills? how would we pay social security? how will we pay veterans? [inaudible] >> now, the republicans are saying pick and choose. and so let's have a vote here. which ones would we pick? which ones would not occur right away? i mean, the president was right to say in my judgment to the republicans, don't do it. you're playing with fire. >> i don't understand that i guess. why are they playing with fire? what would have been? >> those are two different questions. i think republicans have some idea what would have been. we've been through this with the credit rating and i think essentially they know what would have been in so they say let's pick and choose. either way, they haven't said which they would pick and which would be left aside. the president made clea

congress you are going to see on debt ceiling. the republicans in the house are talking about a short-term view of that. it certainly would avoid disaster coming up for the end of march. you will still have the issue of raising it for the long term. on the republican side there is no real appetite to do that without the reforms. same for gun-control. a lot of the agenda items that the president announced last week, the 23 executive actions you will see taken piece by piece. the easiest one to accomplish will be those that come forward the fastest, and the same for immigration reform. there is a lot that could be done and a comprehensive approach, but i think you will see that come down to the very bare minimum that both sides are able to agree on. >> let me follow up with a vote that will happen on wednesday. that will give another three months and the extension of the debt limit. weird is that position? why delay that for three months? where does that put them in march and april? >> this is an acknowledgement that they have lost the debt ceiling essentially as a leveraged tool they have been using it as as the past couple of years. this was the main lever to pressure president obama to get spending

, they'll keep buying them. my two cents on the debt ceiling business. republicans ought to stay away from the issue. that's the first thing. stay away from the debt ceiling issue. stay away with government shutdowns. they're political poison and p.r. disaster. instead, on the spending sequester, $1.2 trillion stay with the spending sequester. i believe john boehner should stick with his one to $1 debt increase with a dollar spending cut. and then go to the new budget. paul ryan, where are you? we need more spending cuts, more entitlement reform and even some tax reform especially business tax cuts to spur economic growth. my two cents. here is an old friend, david walker, founder, president and ceo of the come back america initiative. he knows a lot about this. david, let me ask you this. is boehner wrong to insist that a dollar debt increase should be accompanied by a spending decrease? >> the fact is we need to pay our bills. and i do however think that we have a spending problem. the federal government has gone from being 2% of the economy, 100 years ago. to 24% today. headed to 37% by 2040 absent a cha

about the debate over the debt ceiling, how it affects the overall economy. our georgia tech economics professor, danny boston joining us. danny, you and i were listening to the news conference here. obviously, this is a very important issue. and the president, he is not backing down. he says it is not negotiable here. what is the problem? what would happen if, in fact, they don't come to some sort of an agreement? >> the consequences are really enormous. and they are beyond, simply, the fact that we will default and not be able to, of course, pay our debt and have a downgrade of credit ratings. >> sure. >> that's the short-term consequences, which will be significant, but the longer term consequences relate to where will we be as a nation. because the first time we had these problems, we kind of struggled through them in a mesmes messy way. the second time, the rest of the world would have the opinion that we're not capable of seriously dealing with these issues. so it affects, where will we be necessary terms of a world leadership, as an economy, whether the rest of the world will continue to use the dollar as a reserve economy. where will wall street be in terms of his leadership? so it really, in the long run perspective,

we get to that? there are three pressure points. you have the sequestered, the debt ceiling, and you have the continuing resolution. the sequestered and debt ceiling fall on top of each other towards the end of february. these to say and republican leadership and the senate, which is served in for 12 years, you never take a hostage you cannot shoot. the problem with the house was they took hostage the cannot shoot when they took the fiscal cliff. if the republican members of congress take the debt ceiling as a hostage, it is a hostage you cannot shoot. as a very practical matter, if we go over the debt ceiling, we do not increase the debt ceiling, republicans will not win the debate. they will argue they are not increasing it because they do not want to control spending but they will not win the debate. what will happen is the white house will pay with cash flow of the interest on the debt. the debt will not be called. what they might not pay our social security checks. the moment the american citizen figures out they may not go out, the game is over. tenfold. because believe me,

the eve of the inauguration on monday, on -- just days ahead of debt ceiling conversations, days after fiscal cliff negotiations. was that deal good for poor people? >> for 30 years, we have not addressed this issue, except for the wonderful work that you and cornel are doing in these wonderful people on the panel. politics has neglected the poor. one could say that there was a war on the poor rather than a war on poverty for much of this period. the united states has by far the most poverty of any of the high-income countries as a share of the population. we have the highest in quality. we have the most entrenched underclass. we have had the biggest increases of any quality by leastnd we've had the political response of any high- income countries, so we are standing out on our own. this has been a 30-year trend of soaring in comes at the top, stagnation in the middle, and falling through the floor on the bottom, and the political system has refused to address this for 30 years. so we have reached a calamitous situation in this country, but the fact of the matter is nothing that was done at the fiscal cliff and what lies ahead most likely will not in any deeper way address this crisis. >> how frightened,

critical issues that were left unresolved in 2012. such as the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling, our nation is looking for a path forward. i didn't come to congress to simply talk the talk. i came here to walk the walk for my constituents, for california and for this great nation. today's a new day what calls for new ideas, collaboration and real solutions for the american people. yesterday i also had the pleasure of joining nine of my congressional colleagues across the aisle at a bipartisan no-labels meeting to make america work. we addressed the partisan gridlock in congress that has slowed progress for the american people. it's high time we find compromises that will lead to real solutions to the real problems facing our nation. today i call on all my colleagues to join -- on both sides of the aisle to join in this effort. let's make america work. thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from minnesot

the inauguration on monday, on -- just days ahead of debt ceiling conversations, days after fiscal quick negotiations -- days after fiscal cliff negotiations. was that deal good for poor people? >> for 30 years, we have not addressed this issue, except for the wonderful work that you and cornel are doing in these wonderful people on the panel. politics has neglected the poor. one could say that there was a war on the poor rather than a war on poverty for much of this period. the united states has by far the most poverty of any of the high- income countries as a share of the population. we have the highest in quality. we have the most entrenched underclass. we have had the biggest increases of any quality by far, and we've had the least political response of any high- income countries, so we are standing out on our own. this has been a 30-year trend of soaring in comes at the top, stagnation in the middle, and falling through the floor on the bottom, and the political system has refused to address this for 30 years. so we have reached a calamitous situation in this country, but the fact of the matter is nothing that was done at the fiscal cliff and what lies ahead most likely will not in any deeper way address this crisis. >> how fri

points. you have the sequestered, the debt ceiling, and you have the continuing resolution. the sequestered and debt ceiling fall on top of each other towards the end of february. these to say and republican leadership and the senate, which is served in for 12 years, you never take a hostage you cannot shoot. the problem with the house was they took hostage the cannot shoot when they took the fiscal cliff. if the republican members of congress take the debt ceiling as a hostage, it is a hostage you cannot shoot. as a very practical matter, if we go over the debt ceiling, we do not increase the debt ceiling, republicans will not win the debate. they will argue they are not increasing it because they do not want to control spending but they will not win the debate. what will happen is the white house will pay with cash flow of the interest on the debt. the debt will not be called. what they might not pay our social security checks. the moment the american citizen figures out they may not go out, the game is over. tenfold. because believe me, though congress can stand up to the sen

the first one ended, with a battle over the budget and raising the debt ceiling. so the federal government can borrow money that it needs to pay its bills. the deadline for that is coming up late next month. another issue sure to be raised today is gun violence. vice president biden was assigned to come up with recommendations for cushing gun violence after the deadly school shooting in connecticut. he will be delivering those recommendations to the president tomorrow. right now, our chief white house correspondent, major garrett is in the east room as we await the president. major, what do you expect? >> scott the president will open up with remarks about three to five minutes about the debt ceiling. it's an issue that's been with the president throughout his presidency. he's worked with congress four times to raise it the first time with the stimulus law in 2009, but this time, the president said he has no intention of negotiating with republicans in congress about whether to raise the debt ceiling, saying it's their obligation, not his. another issue clearly to come up will be gun violence. the vice president, joe biden, presents his recommendations based on his task force meetings with the president tom

dealing with the core issue. the core issue is what the congress agrees to spend. all the debt ceiling is paying our bills. the cow is out of barn. let's allow us to let any business would do which is pay your bills. >> neil: why is wall street not worried about this. all your worries were trumpeted, why is the street not worried? >> i think we have learned to live in this environment. the reality is we have accepted what appears to be kick the can down the street politics. >> neil: what would you and your fellow ceos do and have a credible debt fix, you probably would have a heart attack, but what would you do? >> it would allow us to feel more secure where we're going. we need to know the rules of the game. that is what we're asking for. i think we as citizens and not business people first. the reality is we know the problems, debt and immigration and reality as a nation when we compete against nation states, how are we going to compete if we can't solve these problems? the issue is not the debt ceiling. the issue is the fundamental core problems of the country and the inability of our

. you have the debt ceiling issue. all of those are in the mix right now because they are all coming to a head at the same time. we are going to need to deal with all of them. can't we be responsible? can't we work collaboratively on this? if we can -- hearing from the white house that, you know, you go figure it out. it is not my problem. i didn't have anything to do with this. that's not the way to go. >> let me ask you about your job as the head of the republican campaign committee. will you support all incumbent house republicans no matter what under all circumstances? or -- is your job to eliminate primary opposition? >> you know, i love how you -- you know, we try to talk in absolutes here. we are a member of organization that supports republicans and republican members of the house. here's when we do and we go out and recruit. i think, you know the voters want to check and balance in washington. we are going to offer a positive alternative. great candidates. we now -- second biggest majority since world war ii coming off the biggest majority. we intend to build on that. and we

investors should handle the noise out of washington on the debt ceiling issue. >>> then the ceo of the company that owns the stock exchange. up next with jeffrey sprecher. he will join me exclusively. >>> also facebook has been red hot lately. tomorrow there's a big announcement. could it disappoint or ignite a bigger rally for the stock? coming up. [ male announcer ] you're not the type of person who sets goals and only hopes to achieve them. so you'll be happy to know that when it comes to your investment goals, northern trust uses award-winning expertise to lead you through an interactive investment process. adding precision to your portfolio construction by directly matching your assets and your risk preferences against your unique life goals. we call it goals driven investing. your life has a sense of purpose. shouldn't your investments? ♪ expertise matters. find it at northern trust. office superstore ink retailer in america. now get $6 back in staples rewards for every ink cartridge you recycle when you spend $50 on hp ink. staples. that was easy. >>> welcome back. we're follo

you think. t-bills. at the end of 2011 the last time we had a debt ceiling issue we saw bill rates for four week bills and three-month bills start to move up. today we had a one-month bill auction, trading on at five basis points and the auction went off at 9.5 basis points and many are attributing to anxieties and rule 2a7 from the s.e.c. which gives you rules on what kind of time frames can you have with respect to holding in the money funds and a little bit of selling today may be from that group as well. >> anxiety over the debt ceiling crisis? >> exactly. about getting principal back as ridiculous as it may sound. >> david, jump in here. feels like a slow volume day again. are people waiting on some of the banks earnings because tomorrow we've, of course, got some bigies? >> waiting on earnings, but earnings expectations are very low. i think 60% to 70% of stocks will beat their estimates this quarter, and i'm going to watch for guidance over the balance of the year, maria. now you'll have three guests here who are going to be favorably disposed to the market and that makes me

businesses get more confident because we get through the fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling issue. >> we'll see how we get through it and where the cuts come from. >> go ahead, samir. >> i was going to say it's been really interesting how much of a rotation you've seen in tech especially on the sentiment side. all about the death of the pc and the likes of intel and dell and hp selling off and now it's completely the opposite where a lot of the stocks have had pretty nice runs, whether it's because, you know, they have announced restructurings or buybacks, and now it's kind of the -- maybe not the death of it or whatever, but you've had a very nice pullback. very interesting how quickly you've seen that rotation in technology, and i kind of point people back to the fall as to how quickly things change in a hurry. >> thanks very much. have a great weekend, and we will talk soon. >> thanks. >> appreciate your time tonight. major averages hitting three-week winning streaks with the dow and the s&p 500 touching five-year highs. bob pisani has all the action today. >> the important thing is let'

was quote, unquote avoided. now we have the debt ceiling issue so there's some lessening uncertainty but still a lot of uncertainty. so, as we think about '13, i believe if we get some kind of just halfway reasonable leadership out of washington and deal with the debt issue and begin to deal with our fiscal deficits. >> right. >> i think, maria, you could see a real positive lift because people are ready to invest. they need to feel some kind of inspiration, and i think they are ready to invest. >> that's what we're hearing across the board. real quick, you going to raise your dividend this spring? >> well, as you know, we have to go through the process, and we have to wait to see what the fed says, but i'm optimistic. i can't speak for the fed but i'm personally optimistic. >> we'll leave it there. mr. king, good to have you on the program. >> have a good day. >> and to you. chairman and ceo of bb&t. didn't hold on to the triple-digit gains. does that mean we're setting up for a pullback tomorrow? our panel of wall street pros will give you a leg up on what's going to move your mone

improve your credit rating. it was the very slow solution to the debt ceiling in august 2011 i got the u.s. downgraded last time. so it's very, very important that all these issues are important but it's very, very important that congress take necessary action to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a situation where our government doesn't pay its bills. >> a number of people have expressed concern about how much of the challenges actually were addressed in the deal. as you mention it certainly went part way but it leaves another the issues still on the table, and additional negotiations and are looking. would you characterize that as an additional clip that is facing us, or do you think that it's not as concerning as it was when you raised that term initially? >> as i said, the fiscal cliff, if it was allowed to take place would have probably created a recession this year. a good bit of that has been addressed, but nevertheless we still have first fairly restricted set of fiscal policies now. it's estimated that federal fiscal policy will contract from real gdp growth something on the order of one, 1.5% visual, quite significant drag on economy. at the same time with qu

nation's debt ceiling. they intend to do it this time. heather? heather: a lot going on in washington. we hear rumors the president may address the issue of immigration reform. that may be one of the top priorities of his administration. is he expected to talk about that? >> reporter: perhaps but even before that the president is likely to be asked about efforts to curb the nation's gun violence with vice president biden set to give recommendations to the president as early as tomorrow. he has been looking at the issue. now, the president favors a ban on assault weapons, a ban on high capacity magazines. the national rifle association says he doesn't have the votes to force that. all this of course in the wake of the shooting at the school in connecticut that cost the lives of 20 children in addition to six adults. he will also be asked about reshuffling his cabinet. his election of chuck hagel as defense secretary, moderate senator from nebraska, drawing fire mainly from republicans. all but negating the president's attempt to reach across the aisle. hagel has been criticized for his criticism what he calls the jewish lobby which he says